Leaving the Kingdom
by Noah0z
Summary: Kingdom Come explained by the other man that loved her


Leaving the Kingdom

Inspired by the song Champagne High by Sister Hazel

and by

Mark Waid and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come

(Sentences in italics are direct quotes from Kingdom Come.)

The service was simple. Well as simple as a service for an alien and an Amazon princess could be. The church was large, but the guest list pushed its capacity. He stood in the shadows of the balcony. Clark had asked him to stand by his side, but he had politely refused. He'd reverted further back into the darkness in the last year… since they had told him the news. It wasn't a conscious reaction. Dick would have called it a defense mechanism. So he stood in the dark of the balcony, avoiding the light that shone a little too brightly on Clark and Diana. The church was situated on what was once a wasteland in Kansas. Its barren plains now teemed with life. This particular city had been important to Clark. It was where the Kent's farmhouse had once stood and where their adopted son had rebuilt another not long after the war. Had to give Clark credit for his determination. When he finished the house, he started on the barn, and when he'd finished with the barn he'd started on the surrounding farms. His efforts were fixture on the news channels for months. Even though all he thought he was doing was rebuilding his childhood home, he was also doing what he did best. Giving people inspiration. People from the surrounding states came pouring in to the dusty plains to help Clark achieve his goal. They ended up staying so long that they eventually became the first citizens of the new Smallville. In less than a year and a half he had revived the heartland.

Everyone stood as she started down the aisle. He heard the guests breathe in sharply and murmur compliments to those beside them as she walked slowly towards Clark. She was radiant. Of course she was, he thought to himself. She was always radiant. Walking down the aisle, draped in all white she looked as close to a goddess as he had ever seen her. She took Clark's hands when she reached the pulpit, smiling lovingly at him. His chest tightened as the scene played out. As if sensing it, she cast a sideways glance to his shadowed corner. The tiniest bit of sadness showing in her eyes, but as always they returned to Clark, The Man of Tomorrow. He pretended not to notice.

Diana and he had more of a past than anyone knew. From her hatred of him due to a supposed betrayal. To the intimate moments we'd shared. Some romantic, but all of them meaningful. To him at least, he wasn't sure about her anymore. They had remained friends through it all though and after Clark had left they were…more. He was more naive then and when she had come to him upset, he didn't turn her away. Her people own were putting her on trial. They were judging her for not changing Man's World and for becoming more like them. Like me. He was younger then, only slightly graying at the temples. His body was still strong, before it had to be supported by this damn exo-skeleton. He'd held her. Let her sob softly onto his shoulder and when she kissed him, he didn't stop her. Looking back he probably should have. Would it lessen the pain now, he thought. No, probably not. She'd stayed with him after that. Sleeping the day away together and at night he patrolled, rounding up what was missed at the destruction of Arkham and Belle Reeve. Three weeks later she received a summons from Themyscira. Her trial was ready to begin. She came late that night while he was working at the computer, wanting him to ask her to stay. With Arkham gone and the bots taking a more active role, his nights were nearly free. She wanted him to spend them with her. He turned to face her that night and for possibly the millionth time wondered what this woman was doing here.

"I can't ask you to do that." He'd said.

"I don't deserve to be with someone I love, Bruce?"

Turning back to the computer, he replied.

"Yes…you do. Go find him Diana."

"This isn't about Clark, Bruce." Her voice never wavered.

"It isn't? You came to me only after he abandoned the world…and you."

He'd laid calloused palms flat against the console and feeling the weight of the moment, leaned against it.

"That's not how it happened and you know it."

"Your place isn't with me and you know it."

"How can you be so cold, Bruce?"

He lied.

"Because I don't want you here…"

"You mean with you?"

"With me…. I don't want you here with me."

He could feel her staring at his back, daring him to face her. In the silence of the cave a single tear splash was heard on the stone floor. Her tears were almost more than what was bearable. Unsure if letting her go was actually an option anymore, he closed his eyes and forced down the part of him that said to send her away. Just as he was prepared to turn and face her, he heard the shift of her feet on the floor as she turned and walked up the stairs to the manor. She was leaving. Bruce continued to stand stooped over the console long after her footsteps drifted away from him. Only moving when a single teardrop rolled down his face and struck the back of his hand. Languidly he pulled himself away and ambled the way to the room they had shared, he felt tired for the first time in three weeks. She was gone. The bed was still unmade from the previous morning, its sheets twisted around the place where they had slept. He'd stripped out of his clothes and climbed into the bed. Untangling the covers, he draped them over his body and laid a weary head on a pillow. He pulled hers tightly to his face, breathing in the sweet scent that always surrounded her. Late in the morning he'd awoke to find an envelope lying next to him on the large bed. With shaking hands he picked it up and recognized his name written neatly across the front in Diana's perfect handwriting. The back was closed with one of those wax seals she had always been so fond of. She'd given him few letters, but the ones he did receive were always sealed thusly. Sitting up in bed he'd held the envelope in his lap, silently weighing the pros and cons of opening it. Many hours had past before he'd moved. Finally reaching a decision Bruce leaned across the suddenly much larger bed and placed the letter in the sturdy walnut nightstand.

He hadn't seen her again until that day on the battlefield. She had looked amazing. No magnificent. The years had not plagued her like they had him. My chest tightened at the sight of her. He didn't want to be here. He hated the loss of life. Clark had been right in the cave about that, but what was about to happen was probably humanity's only chance of survival. He'd told him as much, but he's….Clark and he doesn't believe there's ever only one choice. He knew his League couldn't stop them all, he needed Batman's as well. Clark might be the world's greatest whatever he is, but even he couldn't handle them all on his own. Bruce was still prepared to let it happen. That's why he mentioned her name. Clark knew he had him on the brink, but he went ahead and used his ace in the hole anyway. Never would he have thought Clark to be that devious. He knew from the reports that she'd gotten more aggressive. Sinking further into the darkness he'd tried to protect her from years ago. After Clark had blazed off in a vain attempt to stop Marvel, he'd stood over a workbench for a moment; much like he had done the night he sent her away. Diana had to be stopped before she did something she could never take back. In his heart he knew he was the only one to save her. Maybe that's why Clark had come to him, because he knew that only someone who lived so close to that line, could actually stop someone from crossing over it. So he'd signaled his forces and donned a cowl for the first time in years. He flew halfway across the nation to try and save her from doing something she'd hate herself for, knowing all the while he would have flown any distance.

His Legion soared in silently from the East. Several of them gasped at the sheer magnitude of what was unfolding. In the middle of the carnage he saw her. The gold of Diana's armor glittering in the eruptions of various power blasts around her. He landed on the outskirts of the battle as his Legion and Bat-bots continued to fly overhead, they all knew their mission here. Stem the loss of life. Wading in, a 'flamer' immediately struck him; the flames enveloped him and the heat licking at the edges of the suit. He came prepared though, while the suit did serve the purpose of holding his frailer body upright, it also had a few useful tricks. In this case an experimental flame suppressant. Having dealt with one threat Bruce continued to combat a way through the hell that now surrounded me. After what seemed like hours, but were mere seconds, he reached the center. All around the battle raged. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of gold and began working his way towards her. Nearing, he realized it was too late.

"_Diana?"_ He asked incredulous.

She stood behind a now fallen Von Bach. Her sword slid noiselessly from his body as he fell, emerging stained crimson by his blood.

"_He left me no choice. They began this. I will finish it."_

Her voice showed no remorse at all for the act she had committed. Only hatred.

"_And we will finish it without you, Bruce! Your People are out of their league!"_

She was making it personal. Perfect.

"_Why? Because we're here to save lives rather than take them?"_ He replied.

He'd admit later to goading her. Pushing all the right buttons. Trying to get her focused on himself rather than some other poor fool that could wind up at the tip of her blade. Saving a life at the cost of his own had always been his way. He just hoped that Diana wasn't going to be the one to charge him.

"_We're here to force peace! We're left with no choice! If you stand in the way-I will remove you!"_

Is she really that far gone? He wondered.

"_Force peace. The Amazon tenet. Spread love and understanding…but don't be afraid to bloody your knuckles doing it. Don't tell me you still subscribe to that paradox."_

They were fighting back to back now. It seemed natural, the way it always had. He caught a peek at her as they fought. She was fighting as hard, if not harder now, as if refusing to show any weakness in his presence. Her face was contorted in a way he'd never seen it though. She oozed hatred and anger. Bruce wasn't sure if it was directed at him or the people she was combating. She wasn't even aiming to maim anymore with that damn sword of hers, every swing was intended to kill. He had to push her farther.

"_I've heard rumors that the Amazons relieved you of your duties and heritage for not being strident enough."_

For the first time during the battle she looked him in the eye.

"_Face the truth, Diana you won't win back your royal station by overcompensating."_

The fury from before was no match to what had risen into her eyes at that moment.

"_You aristocratic bastard!"_ She screamed as she turned towards him.

Charging him, she swung her sword hard and sliced cleanly through the dull blade that extend from his arm.

"_How dare you condemn me"_, she cried?

She grasped the steel of the suit and drove them skyward, all the time cursing the dark armored man.

"_I will not be judged by you! Do you hear me? Do you understand?"_

They soared higher and higher, with him barely able to ward away the blows she continually tried to rain down upon him. Fortunately after all those years she still made the same mistakes as she did when they'd sparred. Of course then she wasn't trying to kill him.

"_After all the years, you have the nerve to swagger out of your cave and expect everyone to bow before your precious wisdom! Well it's too late for that, Bruce!"_

She was starting to crack; it could be heard in her voice. She blamed him for what she'd become; for making her face her mother and the rest of the Amazons, when she would have been content in his arms. Her sword could be felt against his armored neck.

"_We tried to hold order- -but it's too far gone! Our only option now is war!"_

Suddenly they broke through the cloud cover and were now in an endless expanse of blue; the clouds just a layer of wispy white below them. The kind of thing someone would marvel at if they didn't have an enraged Amazon trying to kill them.

"_Our only answer is—"_

It was then that the doom bringers were seen. Bruce's hand, which had been holding her sword hand this whole time, thrust the blade away from his neck. As both their eyes locked onto the approaching planes, they floated slowly away from each.

"_Open your eyes, Diana. Your answer flies on metal wings. Those are nuclear carriers…. the ultimate warbringers."_

She floated beside him, caught in a trap partly of her own creation.

"_Our war is not one act of violence…at the cost of some lives." _He continued speaking unsure if she was even hearing him at all. _"Our war ends in extinction." _

Her eyes were no longer wide with shock; instead they were subdued. Almost as if she was unsure if she should continue. At that moment he gave her a choice. Keep fighting and cause the loss of countless lives or help him.

"_If you're that devoted to the Amazon honor…if your soul genuinely longs for atonement on Amazonian terms…. Then lets keep fighting…and let the planes do their work."_

For the first time that day she looked at him and there was no hatred in her eyes. It was the first time he'd seen that in ten years.

Disaster was averted that day. They'd stopped two of the planes and Marvel had detonated the last. Silently they flew back East, following Clark. He could see the worry in her eyes. Time had advanced her and Clark's relationship. He could see that now. It was more than it had once been.

The old man had stopped Clark from doing something he'd regret long before they arrived. Her eyes never left him as they once again pledged to work with humanity. He'd left as Clark was tying Marvel's cape to the flagpole in remembrance. Diana didn't notice his quiet departure, but he was almost positive Clark did. He'd been watching him out of the corner of his eye, possibly judging Bruce's reaction to his and Diana's situation.

He didn't see either of them for some time after that. He had a new purpose for a time, mainly rebuilding the manor into a hospital for those that survived the blast. Not to mention putting some of the surliest of the lot to work caring for them. Watching Luthor had almost been a full-time job in its self. He had to admit it'd felt good. For a while he even traded in his darker colors for white. That's how it was when he received the call. They wanted to meet.

As soon as they strode into the restaurant he'd known. Bruce had assumed they were together, but for the first time in my life he'd never really wanted to know something for sure. Her pregnancy had been somewhat expected, her decision to ask him to be the godfather was not. It had shocked him. Of course Diana had always been able to shock him. Then Clark had surprised him by agreeing. That's what made it so hard to hate him. He really was the best of them. They'd left that day arm in arm, pondering the future of the world's finest child.

Little Martha now sat asleep in her grandmother's lap. The name held sentiment for both Clark and Bruce. Already he loved the child dearly. She was truly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. It was a shame that he wasn't going to be able to be a part of her life.

The congregation is silent throughout the service, but as they say their 'I do's' the crowd erupts in a joyful noise. They were happy and he was happy for them. The line to greet the happy couple stretched for what seemed like miles, his relationship with the couple allowed him to jump ahead a little though.

Bruce shook the larger man's hand and he hugged him. Clark always pushed the limits of his comfort. As he approached Diana he reached into his breast pocket to retrieve something. She smiled as he turned to her. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and took her hand in his, pressing the folded envelope into it. Confused she turned her hand over to inspect the folded paper. She probably expected a check, but deep down he could see she was worried it was another 'we need to talk' note. She unfolded it and realization struck her face. Hesitantly she turned it over to examine the still intact seal. Her eyes reached his, questioning why.

"Whatever you said…its best left alone. I love you both. Good luck, Diana"

Tears welled up in her eyes as he turned to go. She reached out and grabbed his arm, her blue eyes begging what her mouth could not. He just slowly shook his head 'no' and walked away.

His story was ending, but theirs is a long way from done.


End file.
